By Chris Froggatt

Technology is moving faster than ever before. We now have square dance equipment that is lighter, more powerful and more versatile than ever before. A good example of this new technology is the Mini-disc. It capable of doing things we once didn't think possible.

Not too long ago, some callers would carry a turntable, a cassette deck, a CD player, and two or three boxes of records, tapes and CDs. Now we can replace all that equipment with one small package, and one small box of mini-discs. We can now record everything we need onto a mini-disc, and keep our precious vinyl records safely stored away. No longer do we need to worry about scratching our irreplaceable records, or having the needle skip if we bump the table. I have been using mini-discs as my primary music source for about three years now. It's wonderful technology, and the price is coming down all the time.

Along with this technology has come the ability to make "pirate" copies of records bought by other callers. There is a temptation to "share the costs" so to speak, between two or more callers (each caller buys half as many records as usual, and makes mini-disc copies for the others).

At first glance, this seems like a "logical" thing to do, and surely it won't do any harm - WRONG! In fact, if this practice was to become wide spread it would quickly put square dance record manufacturers and sellers in a financially unsustainable position! The square dance music industry has a very small market, and it would not take much to put some small record labels out of business.

Any short-term gains that individuals might make from "pirating" would soon be paid for by everyone, if we lose the wide variety of music labels now available.

There are some circumstances when I believe it is legitimate to make mini-disc copies of square dance music. However, if you chose to use these alternatives, please be honest with yourself.

Most callers who use mini-disc do so for the convenience. The added advantage is that you are only really using a back-up copy when you call, especially when away from your hometown. Should you be unlucky enough to have your mini-discs stolen or damaged, you still have the records at home.

There are many good records that just aren’t available any longer. If you really want an old record can’t be bought from the regular channels (such as Tape Services or Record Companies), then making a mini-disc copy from a friend is your only alternative. But before you do, you must have really tried to buy the record, but found that it is not around any more. And don’t just make copies of all your friend’s records. Be reasonable. After all, he/she had to pay for them in the first instance.

A friend may ask you to call a duet with them at a future special occasion, but you don’t have the record. For the sake of a single performance, it might be OK to take a copy of the music to rehearse, however if you decide to continue to call the record you should buy your own copy.

There may possibly be legal arguments against this one, so don’t quote me. If you hear a friend call a certain record, and like the way they call it but aren’t sure that it will suit you, perhaps making a copy to rehearse before you buy it is OK. After the rehearsal, if you decide to use the record at your club, then buy your own copy.

In conclusion, I think it is great that modern technology can be adapted successfully to our great activity. In the future there will be many more innovations that will come along, so lets use them to our advantage.